Price$30.00
Media TypeBook
CategoryBusiness
Date AddedMar 27, 2014
Definitive Guide to Restaurant Magic
Goodman, Wayne
(Based on 2 reviews)
-Christian Fletcher
If you have ever wanted to know anything about performing at restaurants, how to get the gig, and more importantly KEEP the gig, this is the book for you!!
-Chris Congreave
Restaurant magic is something that is completely unique in this business. Approaching table is completely different to any other gig, you will come across families, couples, private parties, corporate parties, hen and stag parties, so your repertoire has to be varied and big.Not only do you have to get the gig in the first place, but you have to be able to keep it. One man in the UK who has tons of experience in this field, and has held residencies for years at all types of restaurants is Wayne Goodman. He decided to share his experiences in this book.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin
Definitive Guide to Restaurant Magic by Wayne Goodman Review:
One book, and unknown number of pages and $30 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method
The effect? Getting a gig at a restaurant . . . that's what this book covers. This book doesn't cover any tricks. So there are no methods and no effects to discuss. This is all about getting gigs. It covers everything from approaching the manager/owner to follow up, marketing, retaining the gig, contracts, publicity, approaching the table, etc., etc., etc.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy makes no audacious claims or promises. It simply states what the book is about, so not much to say here.
Product Quality
This book, though full of excellent information, is very poorly produced. There are no page numbers, and no table of contents and no index. That was a bit frustrating when I wanted to go back and re-read a section of the book. Typically, I'll go to the table of contents and find a chapter title that I think contains the section I'm looking for. It's very much a pain to find information in the book after you've read it. You can't write down the page number as a reference.
The layout is a little cluttered and messy in some places, but again, the information is solid. Just about any question you might have regarding performing at restaurants is covered in this book. Some of the information is "nothing new" but all of it comes directly from Wayne Goodman's hard earned experience.
The only thing I didn't really like was when he discussed tricks. He basically just listed the name of the tricks/products that he uses in his repertoire. It would have been more useful if he covered a little more depth about the effect (not the method), just the type of effect it is. Is it a card trick? Coin trick? Audience involvement? Time to perform? etc. This would have given the reader a better sense of the type of material that Goodman feels works best in the restaurant environment.
Other than that, everything is covered.
Final Thoughts
If you're wanting to break into this market or even if you're not sure if you want to break into this market, this is a great first step. It's written from the perspective of someone performing in the UK, but 99% of it applies to (at least) the United States and very likely other cultures. If you're a working pro who performs at restaurants regularly, I think you'll find some value here as well.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem
(Top ▲)
I’ve worked restaurants for almost ten years. I was taught through mentors, Eugene Burger’s books, and experience. Most of the books I’ve gotten since beginning have awful to wrong advice. This one has some advice I disagree with, however, this is a book written by a magician in the UK. The culture, vibe, and social contract is very different than it is here in the US, and there are even differences in geographic areas.
The quality of the cover and writing isn’t quite top notch. All this aside, I loved his article on the approach, how to use the staff, and promotional ideas. I can’t go into too much detail without giving away the information you should be paying for, but know that I will use and consider some of these ideas.
All in all, this is an ok resource for US magicians who are about a year into restaurants, and a possible GREAT starting resource for UK magicians.
I give it three and a half stars.
The quality of the cover and writing isn’t quite top notch. All this aside, I loved his article on the approach, how to use the staff, and promotional ideas. I can’t go into too much detail without giving away the information you should be paying for, but know that I will use and consider some of these ideas.
All in all, this is an ok resource for US magicians who are about a year into restaurants, and a possible GREAT starting resource for UK magicians.
I give it three and a half stars.